Ealing Hospital Boosts Mental Health Support
Enhanced Observations Team responds to internal referrals
Ealing Hospital's Enhanced Observations Team
May 15, 2025
Ealing Hospital has boosted the mental health treatment that patients admitted to the hospital receive.
A dedicated team is helping ease pressure on patients and staff.
The Enhanced Observations Team, which includes mental health nurses and healthcare assistants, responds to referrals made anywhere in the hospital.
The team was set up in response to the growing number of patients presenting with mental as well physical conditions.
Enhanced Observations Teams are often deployed in NHS hospitals when standard nursing observations are insufficient due to a patient's mental or physical health needs. They can provide continuous patient monitoring for patients who require constant observation (e.g., due to delirium, dementia, self-harm risk, aggression, or falls). This assists ward nurses and healthcare assistants by freeing up time so they can attend to other patients.
Deborah Okey, Senior Mental Health Nurse, said, “The majority of nurses are trained to look after a patient’s physical, not mental, well-being.
"This can take up a lot of their time if an individual needs a lot of attention which is where we come in, assess the patient and make a recommendation and provided enhanced observation and support for the patients.
“We train our healthcare assistants to manage the less complex cases while more complex cases are managed by experienced mental health nurses.”
Referrals to the team can be made via email. There is a referral template which all the wards have access to. The team is also available to staff if they feel they need support
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